How long is everyones lessons?
i only do half an hour a week at grade 8 and am wondering whether i should extend this to an hour or 2 half hour sessions a week...

i do one hour. she usually extends it by 5 or 10 mins for a quick study practice

definitely !!! I personally do not find 30 minutes long enough at all for any grade past grade 5 - and especially at grade 8 an hour is probably needed

half an hour ?? at grade 8 ? That seems too short even for grade 1 IMO ... I used to do one hour from grade 6 onwards ( theory & practical) but now my lessons are 45 mins practical (grade 8) and 1/2 hour for theory (grade 6 ).

When I first started to learn the piano I had one half hour lesson per week but even then it didn't seem long enough so I extended it to an hour. Half and hour seems to go so quickly that it just isn't long enough so even though it might cost more money, it's well worth it as you will be learning more each week. Considering you are at grade 8 standard I would say you definitely need more time to be able to fit in a good practise session with your teacher.

Lisa xxx

Officially I have 40 minutes, but am usually there for an hour at least.

My lessons are half an hour long.

The ones I teach are 45 minutes (private) and 30 minutes (college). My piano lessons are 1 hour.

I find the 30 minute lessons are just not long enough - and most of my students at college are Grade 5 +.

30 minutes for my flute lessons just isn't long enough - it barely gives enough time to look properly at 1 piece of music. Work on scales has been left to me to get on with on my own ( hence some of the questions I've posted) . Same applies to piano lessons though we usually run over by a few minutes.

You wouldn't believe this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Last night I attended my daughter's violin lesson and guess what?

The teacher started at 7.30pm as usual BUT then he got carried away till I told him my girl is sleepy. He looked at his watch and it was 8.45pm!!!! He was startled and apologised. Anyone fancy THAT??? He he he

Apparently, the next student had forgotten to turn up. Usually, his lessons are back-to-back.

He normally finishes with her at 8.15pm, though, but he always charges us half hour - very kind.

Tess

I tried weekly half hour lessons but I found by the time we'd said hi and refreshed memories on what was set to practice there wasn't much time for learning. I find it better to have a 1 hour lesson every 2 weeks. Costs the same, gives me longer to polish my practice, and we get tons more done. Definatly suits me better.

I have four 90 minute lessons a week . We have longer lessons because apart from playing through all my DipABRSM pieces, we also go through the other pieces that I am learning at the same time.

an hour actually for piano lesson, but my teacher were kind enough to extend 30 minutes for my theory, which means i have all together 1.30 hours.

Well, when I had piano lessons, they were supposed to be for 1/2 an hour but he always stayed longer. However, as I am no good on the piano, I will apply my experiences to the flute.
I am working towards Grade 8, however, I only have 1x 40 minute lesson per week. This is because she comes to my school. The last Grade 8 person got an hour, but I only think I'll get this when I am close to doing my Grade 8. However, as long as I'd love the lessons to be, they're so expensive that an hour would cost so much!

I have one hour piano evey week, (doing grade 7), as there wasn't enough time to fit in everything in half an hour. I also do all my aural work, for both cello and piano with my piano teacher, so the extra time is useful to fit in that as well.
With my cello teacher, I have an hour a fortnight, which is better than a half hour lesson every week, as it is a bit further to travel. Although when it gets nearer to exams, my teacher does an hour lesson every week, which works out nicely as it is a time when i'm doing a lot more practice and need extra help on getting things right.

My clarinet lessons are 2 hours long although sometimes go on longer and my violin lessons are 1 - 1 1/2 hours long. I have lessons weekly. Fortunately my teachers like me and I only pay £10 for each session!

Does this include theory? Good lord!

A parent was asking in another post whether they should teach own child.

If contact time is to be only half an hour in a week, then I dont see how the best teacher in the world could turn a student into a rounded musiciain.

I'd guess that it depends a lot on how much the student themself does to turn themself into a rounded musician. If the student is a good independent learner who can find answers to many problems themself then it is probably quite possible; if the student only does exactly what they're told by their teacher then it will be difficult.

With the choice of turning a half-hour lesson into two half-hour lessons it seems to me like a single one hour lesson would be more fruitful, then you have settled in and got going and can keep going rather than being disrupted. Unless of course you find it hard to concentrate for long periods, or only practise when you have your lesson tomorrow !

i do 2-6 hours a week, two 1-3 hour lessons
for piano that is
my piano teacher always gives me a lesson at the end of her teaching day, so that she can give me extra time...officially my lessons should be 1 hour long...but whatever
i feel lucky

I have an hour but my teacher always goes over time, sometimes to 2 hours. On the last lesson before every grade she goes for 3 hours and still charges the rate of 1 hour.

I only have 30 minutes - but my teacher is brilliant at keeping to time. Sometimes I'll have a one hour lesson, but not very often.

I'm amazed at those who have been saying it can't be done in 30 minutes - I've just done Grade 8, now I'm working on diploma - it CAN be done in 30 minutes, but I think a lot depends on what happens outside the lesson - ultimately, my progress is dictated by what I do outside the lesson, how much practice, what sort of practice etc. I often feel that my lesson is for fine-tuning what I've been working on - adding in little touches of expression, checking the timing of tricky bits etc.

The other issue is cost - I can afford to practise a lot at home on my own - I can't afford to pay for lots of lessons. (Currently paying for 8 thirty minute lessons a week for my family!)

several months a go I asked a proffesor about how much time is properly for have a piano lesson, and she said:
25-30 minutes for children 2 times a week
45 minutes until one hour for teenagers 3 times a week, n if they want to join competition or something else we can make the course every day, sometimes until 3 hours.
So, it depends on your need in a length of time.

I would think that anyone requiring so much contact time in a week with their teacher really isn't doing enough work for themself and perhaps should return to playing at a lower level at which they can become a musician in their own right rather than simply doing as their teacher tells them all of the time. These aren't the talented musicians; they're the pushed musicians.

My piano lessons are 30 minutes which is just about long enough for scales and pieces, and maybe theory and aural tests. Clarinet lessons at university were an hour each week, but that length of time is needed at that level. I think over an hour at any level though would be quite pointless, and would achieve no more (exept bigger debts!).

I was just about to agree with you on the point abt pushed musicians - I like your sense of humour - when suddenly, he he he, I laughed. Can't help but recall that Menuhin did have 3 hours of lesson a day whenever Persinger was in town. Now, I'm confused... Why on earth would a prodigious musician like Menuhin need lessons every day?! Come to think of it, so did Leonid Kogan who lived with his teacher and some world class concert pianists, too. This IS confusing. Leila Josefowicz (the American violin prodigy) is refreshingly different - she had 2 lessons a week. Can anyone who is already very advanced in music AND know more abt this, care to comment???

I am genuinely confused...

Was he in town often?! The poor guy would have had no time to practise with three hours of lessons a day, or were the lessons just supervised practise too? I think that if young children make it far at an early age they mostly are supervised for a lot of the time (Mozart's father pushed him; Benjimin Grovener is taught my his mother, not of course that I intend to imply that the two are in the same league) as children aren't as good at directing their own learning; but to create a world-class musician one surely has to create an original, independent thinker. I still can't help but think that even in these situations sacrificing pushing on to harder and harder pieces for a little more independence at an earlier stage would be benificial. You're right though, it is confusing, we shall await someone who knows the answers...

Was he in town often?! The poor guy would have had no time to practise with three hours of lessons a day, or were the lessons just supervised practise too? I think that if young children make it far at an early age they mostly are supervised for a lot of the time (Mozart's father pushed him; Benjimin Grovener is taught my his mother, not of course that I intend to imply that the two are in the same league) as children aren't as good at directing their own learning; but to create a world-class musician one surely has to create an original, independent thinker. I still can't help but think that even in these situations sacrificing pushing on to harder and harder pieces for a little more independence at an earlier stage would be benificial. You're right though, it is confusing, we shall await someone who knows the answers...

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What you say does make sense.

For information, Menuhin has PLENTY of time to practise. He was home-schooled, remember? So his mother in the beginning and then later in life, his various languages, piano and maths tutors all have to fit in with his home schedule whenever they taught/visited him for lessons and violin sessions always took 1st priority.

Hello, is there anyone out there who is very advanced in music and take daily lessons???

I was considering this further and came up with some additional thoughts.

I suspect that behind almost every child prodigy there is an adult (teacher, parent etc.) spending hours and hours a week telling the child what to do, how to interpret the piece and so on. Whilst children can do the technical work by raw practise they can also approach the interpretation in a technical manner too: slow down here, emhasise this note etc. if a CD player can play with interpretation (or a diskclavier can) given exact instruction, so can a robot and so can a child.... So I suspect, therefore, that most child prodigies have a teacher behind them for many hours a week or a musical parent that helps them a lot.

For a child prodigy to become an adult artist it is a big transition, they really need to emerge as their own artist, and many don't make it. This may be because they simply can't become independent as necessary; or it may be that simply when their playing is considered on a level playing field with the other professionals it simply isn't good enough without the extra wow factor of being young.

Being a child prodigy does have one major thing going for it though: getting one's name known. There are so many tallented instrumentalists coming out of music colleges and only a fraction of these can make it to be professional soloists. I'm certain that it's not always the absolute best ones that will make it: there's a lot of luck involved unfortunately (about as much luck as talent is required, and I'm not in any way implying that not much talent is requried!) and a large dose of marketability.... If one's name is already known from the past (even if one has had a lapse in fame in one's teenage years due to not being young enough any more; but not good enough yet as I'm told Kissin did) then one has a much better chance of being the one that gets picked for that career: look I'm good now and I'm Evgeny Kissin has much more pull than look I'm good now and no one has heard of me (even if the second good is better). Being a child prodigy is probably the most certain way of getting a fair chance at a job as a professional soloist, but even then it's by no means certain!

wo hours a week for £5.. I go on a Tuesday night and a Saturday morning She really wants me to do my grade 6. so thats's mean i dont pratices as much at home onylf or about 20 mnis?

Some children do genuinely have musical maturity at a much younger age. Friend of mine while at school was grade 8 recorder before she reached secondary school, took up bassoon in her first year and at the end of her second year won a bassoon scholarship to Chetham's. She didn't require someone to push her - she pushed herself. She adored music and wanted desperately to be a musician, from a very early age, and unlike most children had a clear idea of what that required and set about doing it. She was technically very very accomplished on each of the instruments she played, even those she didn't pursue to the high level that she played recorder and bassoon at, and her playing was mature musically beyond her years. And definitely not taught robot-repetition style. Health problems prevented her from finishing her course at one of the Royals (think the Academy but I always get confused...!) and pursuing her dream, but certainly this was not a case of either a parent or teacher pushing her, or her copying the musical style of her betters... she just had "it", and was willing to work hard to get her technique in line with her inate musicality.

That's so sad. If i could, I'd give her my health in exchange for a bit of her understanding of music. I'm hopeless!

It is sad... she has a type of ataxia. She can't even sing anymore! one of the most talented musicians I have ever met......

I had half an hour a week right up until I passed my first post grade 8 exam. Wasnt enough at all but couldnt pay for more at the time. Have nothing at the moment (no teacher) but im hoping that will change soon, if I get into uni this year ( wont know till august).